Merry Christmas everyone!
It’s Christmas Eve today and at least for us in Germany that’s when Christmas starts. I wanted to tell you a little bit about the traditions in my family while waiting for the celebrations to start.
Usually during the day on Christmas Eve my parents and I are being comfortable at home. We have a nice breakfast together, prepare the food for the night, watch Christmas movies (preferably the ones by Astrid Lindgren!) and just enjoy being around each other. This morning I went to a very nice home decor store with my Mom and afterwards we went to have cupcakes. Yummy! Mine had a Glühwein-Frosting! (Yes, I’ve told you before, never leave Germans without Glühwein before Christmas :))
As soon at it gets dark we usually go to church. That’s when Christmas really starts for me. When we get back home we will light up the Christmas tree (which we don’t decorate before the 23rd by the way!), sit together with a hot cup of tea and give our presents to each other. We all love unwrapping them – obviously – and make quite a ceremony out of it 🙂 Afterwards we’ll eat. Ever since I was little we’ve always had raclette on Christmas Eve. I love that! For those of who donÄt know what that is, I can post a picture of it for you later tonight. Basically everybody gets a little pan of their own and you’re supposed to put all kinds of veggies, meat, potatoes etc. into it and gratinate everything with cheese. So yummy! For most people raclette is a common meal for New Years Eve as well. The rest of the evening will usually be very relaxed and calm.
On Christmas Day my parents and I, my aunt and uncle, cousins with their kids – just basically the whole family – will be at my Grandma’s house for coffee, cake and more Christmas celebrations. This is usually the part where Christmas gets really bustling and not calm at all, but fun 🙂 I love seeing everyone at my Grandma’s house!
On the second day of Christmas my boyfriend will come to the town where my parents live to spend time with us. I am so much looking forward to that! That night we will have dinner with friends of my parent’s and their son and daughter whom we’ve know for what feels like forever. They almost feel like family too!
That is basically it 🙂 I’m aware of the fact that so many people on this planet will not have a nice Christmas like that and I’m really trying to keep that in mind while I am so lucky to be healthy, celebrate with my family, eat good food and just enjoy Christmas to the fullest.
Merry Christmas everyone, be safe if the weather if giving you a hard time, be thankful for what you have and enjoy your time!